Author: emmawomenslegal

Women’s Legal Services Australia (WLSA) is deeply concerned that the Coalition Government is rushing the recent Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Bill and the accompanying consequential amendments bill through parliament without proper consideration about the impact of those changes to the safety of family violence victim-survivors and their children.

Together with the Law Council and other key stakeholders, WLSA calls for the government’s reporting period to be extended to allow for changes to the family court structure to be informed by the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Family Law Review and following proper consultation with the community.

WLSA fears the changes which will dismantle the Family Law Court and adopt a generalist court structure will result in a diminution of expertise in the family law system and may increase risk of harm for family violence victim-survivors and their children.

WLSA is further concerned that the changes don’t address the underlying problem of chronic underfunding that has long plagued the family law system.

Angela Lynch, CEO of Women’s Legal Service QLD and WLSA spokesperson, said “We are concerned these changes are being rushed through parliament without proper consultation with family violence experts and victim-survivors in order to understand exactly what the changes will mean for the safety of families experiencing family violence. Providing only a number of weeks for stakeholders to review the most significant overhaul of the family law system in 40 years is grossly insufficient and dangerous.”

“The ALRC Review commissioned by the government provides a unique opportunity for the family law system to be re-designed in consultation with the community and key stakeholders, including victim-survivors of family violence. We fear that rushing the changes through before hearing the outcomes of this Review will result in a piecemeal approach that does not take the needs of family violence victim-survivors and their families into account.”

Women’s Legal Services Australia (WLSA) has concerns about the impacts on safety from the proposed dismantling of the family law court for domestic violence victims and their children.

WLSA acknowledges there are longstanding issues and concerns about the Family Court’s responsiveness to domestic violence cases and has advocated for years to change to this. However, the reality is that moves to a more generalist court could make matters much worse for domestic violence survivors in the family courts.

WLSA is also concerned about the proposed removal of family law appeals from the Family Court appeals division where they are currently heard to the generalist Federal Court.

Specialisation is fundamental for the safe resolution of the large number of family law matters involving domestic violence that proceed through the courts.

Angela Lynch, CEO of Women’s Legal Service QLD and WLSA spokesperson said “We should be enhancing and building on current family law specialisation with increased and specialised responses to domestic violence and abuse in family law and not reducing it.”

WLSA calls for legislative protection of specialisation in family law and for the establishment of a domestic violence court pathway in the family law system to better respond to risk and safety issues.

The need for specialist knowledge and skills in dealing with family law matters has already been recognised by the Federal Government in the recent parent management hearings bill currently before parliament, where decision makers in this new program are required to have expertise in these areas. At the same time the Federal Government appears to be reducing such specialisation in the court system.

We caution that any change to the family law court system must be supported by increased resources across the board and inclusive of women’s legal services and other similar agencies, in order for it to be successful.

WLSA is concerned by the lack of a comprehensive consultation process that hears directly from victim-survivors to inform the proposed changes to the court system.

The current ALRC Family Law Inquiry provides a unique opportunity for the family law system to be re-designed. To ensure that family law reform is not piecemeal and is informed by the findings of the ALRC Inquiry we urge the Government to postpone any changes to the structure of the family law courts to after the ALRC Inquiry.

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This morning all political leaders from all major parties joined Rosie Batty and Women’s Legal Services Australia to raise concerns about safety in family law.

The federal minister for women, Senator Michaelia Cash, shadow minister for women, Senator Clare Moore and the leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Richard Di Natale, were delivered a petition by Rosie Batty calling for reform to the family law system with over 21,000 signatures from across Australia.

The Chief Justice of the Family Court Ms Diana Bryant AO also spoke in support of the plan but called on government to make the investment necessary to put the plan into action, without this additional funding, she said, support for the plan would simply be ’empty rhetoric’.

You can read about Women’s Legal Services Australia’s plan to prioritise safety in the family law system here and sign up to the never alone petition here.

The announcement from the Greens is a huge win for the Safety First in Family Law campaign and it increases pressure on the Prime Minister as well as the Opposition leader to step up and commit to the plan to make women and children safe in the family law system.

You can join the campaign by emailing the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition asking them to adopt the five step road map to fix family law. We’ve put together a sample letter and some email tips, you can read them here.